Complicated
by blackghost7
Summary: Sequal to "Without Complication" ...It was just supposed to be a one time thing...he was never supposed to see or hear from her again. And just because Fate hate's him, she get's dumped right back into his lap. Renji/OC...Onesided Rukia/Ichigo
1. Knives and Nausea

This is a continuation of the oneshot Without Complication. It is not entirely necessary for you to read the previous story to understand this, but know that I will reference back to it from time to time.

Just as before...this story's continuation is decided solely by my reviewers. If I don't get any reviews, there won't be a next chapter. It's as simple as that.

**This has officially been edited since its 5am release. If you find any errors, PM me and I will fix them...**

**Disclamer: This should go without saying, but I do not own bleach. I wish I did...until I do, I will settle for writing fanfiction.**

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It was an average spring day in the town of Karakura. The weather was fine, and all was quiet but for the occasional car or passerby. The working class was nowhere to be seen; for it had been that special time of day between shifts. Few were getting off, and even fewer were going to work. Somewhere, a school bell was going off and students were filing out of their classrooms. It was during these precious moments that everything but the wind stood still. It was a time that those who wished for peace often cherished. However, there was one individual who prayed for a distraction.

He appeared to be a young male…that is, if you could see him. Normally, he would venture out like any other; but there were days when he just wished to be left alone. How could one tell? Well…you wouldn't see him, that's how. Invisible to the human eye, unless one had been gifted with a special sight, you would never find the _shihakushō_ garbed character.

Despite his original intentions, the poor soul had been left with his mind for far too long.

"Rukia," he stated in a hushed whisper, voice masked by the wind.

He looked to the sky, as if seeking an answer to his unspoken question. "Why not me?" his strained voice asked while he turned his gaze to the ground. He said nothing more after that, but one could tell by the look in his eyes that the words hadn't truly stopped, but instead continued in his mind.

'_Despite your words, I see how you look at him.' _He sighed, '_You have never looked at me that way before.' _

He paused for but a moment. Internally warring with himself with whether or not he really wanted to continue with his current thought processes. He knew what he was thinking was true, and that only made it hurt all the more. That being the case, should he continue to venture down such a path…musing about things that would only push the knife deeper into his heart, twisting the blade with every painful thought that came to mind?

He probably shouldn't have, but it was too late to go back. Too late to turn around and act as if he hadn't been thinking about her in the first place. Instead, he blindly trudged forward. Thinking about what he shouldn't and twisting the knife himself.

'_You care for him…I can tell.'_ The proverbial blade dug further into his heart, '_I know you care for me too…'_ There was a slight release in pressure, the blade being removed a bit.

'_But it is not the same,'_ the knife plunged deeper than before. '_Our bond will never go beyond our friendship.'_ A second blade joined the first, '_I can never hope to be your lover…like that boy will some day be.'_ And then it happened. His thoughts had pushed the knives so far in that were buried to the hilt, ripping all the way through the back. His heart had been severed. A healer would be useless here; kido could not mend so grave a wound. Only love could heal a broken heart, and the one woman he had eyes for would never return his affections.

Slowly, his mind was pulling him into a depression. With no distractions, there would be nothing to stop the oncoming emotions. Though it would seem that luck was on his side that day for his cell phone rang before he could truly begin to sulk.

With the flick of his wrist, the black phone was open and at his ear. "Renji-san," the voice called out in a sing-song manner. The high pitch easily distinguished the other person to be female. Recognition bloomed in the back of his mind; somewhere just beyond his reach. Something told him that he knew that voice; that he had heard it somewhere before…but he still could not put a face to it. It was an unsettling thought. She knew him, but he didn't know her. The circumstances of such a situation could be as innocent as someone approaching you with familiarity but you not having a clue as to who they were. In turn, you nod and smile; all the while trying to remember their name before you can make a fool out of yourself. Or, it could have been as dangerous as a stalker…someone's shit-list that he just so happened to be on. Either way, it wasn't something he wanted to think about. Instead, he opted for a more direct approach.

"Who--" The red head began before being cut off by the stranger on the phone. When he had been about to try and speak again, the person cooed, "You are wanted at Urahara Shoten," before promptly hanging up.

It had all happened so suddenly; and before he could get a grasp of the situation, it was already over. Confusion littered his expressions, '_Just what was all that about?' _Renji did not know what was going on at the moment, or what Urahara supposedly wanted him for; but he was grateful for the distraction.

--

Renji hadn't been the only person to receive the strange phone call, for far across town, a friend of his had as well, "Ichigo-chan!" The temperamental male took none too kindly to being called chan, but surprisingly, the only evidence of this was the ever cliché twitching of his eyebrow. "Who is this?" Kurosaki questioned in a surprisingly calm voice. "Just a friend," she answered as if she had known him for years. "Now," she paused to clear her throat before continuing in her best announcer's voice, "You presence has been requested by '_The Great Urahara Kisuke!'_" Ichigo had moved to question her further, but never had the chance to do so. "Bring your friends…" her ever cheerful voice rang out before the line went dead.

--

"What's this about old man," Ichigo questioned as he arrived at Urahara Shoten, his friends in tow.

Recognizing the familiar voice, a seated Renji turned at the waist to exchange annoyed glances with the orange haired boy. Whether it was from jealousy or even simple rivalry, the sound of the college student's voice was enough to infuriate him at that moment. It wasn't uncommon for the two to act as such, but all knew that their attitude towards one another was just their strange way of displaying their friendship. It was because of this that Renji's attitude was ignored by the others. Little did anyone know, his irritated expression was genuine. As of late, Renji had been known to become irritable when in the presence of both Ichigo and Rukia. When in their company, he would always be painfully reminded of the blind love triangle that they all seemed to be in. Renji obviously had eyes for his childhood friend Rukia, though she never noticed…and Rukia seemingly had her heart set on Ichigo, who also seemed to be in the dark about his admirer's affections.

He however, never told anyone this, save for one person. Orihime Inoue. She was a friend of sorts…but oddly, not someone that he would normally confide in. The reason for him opening up and baring all to her was very simple. He had noticed that she too was in pain. Ichigo, her beloved, was a taken man whether he knew it or not…whether he wanted to be or not. Orihime shared the same opinions as Renji on the matter.

'Rukia was in love with Ichigo.'

Playing her part as the dedicated friend, Inoue had put her own feelings aside for the sake of another; stepping down so that someone else might find happiness. It pained her so…and the tortured expression that would fall upon her features whenever the two in question were together was one Renji identified with. He spilled to her one night; telling her all that ailed him. In turn, she closed up and revealed nothing. With gentle prodding and knowing looks; she caved in a flurry of pained wails and tears. He was the second person that she had opened up to, and it hurt even more when talking about it a second time.

Despite the initial pain that came with their confessions, a slight weight had been lifted…if not only for the night. For the remainder of the night, the two sat on her couch in better spirits knowing that they weren't alone. Ever again, if things became too much for her to handle, Orihime had a shoulder to cry on. He'd be there for her to pat her on the back and tell her everything was alright, and she would provide an ear for when he just needed to talk.

Each person, not wanting to burden the other, would never actually resort to such actions a second time; but it was still nice to know that the offer was there should they ever actually need it.

--

A small hand landed on Renji's shoulder and he visibly calmed. Like Chad, Inoue had developed the unique ability of calming the aggravated red-head without words. Ever grateful, he turned to her and offered a discreet nod and small appreciative smile.

The small interaction went unnoticed by nearly all in the room. Urahara had been the only one to catch what had happened and he wisely said nothing about it. Instead, he continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Well now, sit," the shopkeeper ordered from behind his fan. "There is someone I would like you all to meet," he said before promptly snapping his fan shut to reveal his trademark grin.

"Akina-chan!"

--

All heads snapped to the door as it smoothly slid open. Surprisingly, it hadn't been Kisuke's _Akina-chan_ that stepped through the doorway. In her place stood a rather confused Tessai. Quickly and quietly, he set the tray he had been carrying down and left the room. While the entire room busied themselves with recovering from face vaults and slack jaws, Urahara hummed quietly to himself while pouring a cup of tea. He didn't see the reason to act so surprised. After all, Tessai _did_ live with him, so his sudden appearance was by no means as shocking as everyone was making it out to be. Akina was on her way…he could feel her…or so he thought.

When a slender pair of arms snaked around his neck, traveled down his chest and stopped at the crook of his thigh, Urahara nearly dropped his tea. Thankfully, after years of dealing with the troublesome woman, his only outward response was a short gasp. Damn her and her reiatsu masking abilities.

"Akina-chan," he said, voice slightly husky from the intimate touch.

"Urahara-san," she replied impishly, innocent grin in place. Once again, she baited the poor shopkeeper and pulled away like she wasn't just doing something very private in a very public place. In fact, it seemed more like she hadn't even noticed the extra company until a very uncomfortable Ichigo coughed.

Akina didn't even spare him a glance. Instead, she snatched the hat off of Urahara's head and took a seat beside him. She had mumbled something about forgetting her own at home and he didn't question it. A few shocked glances where sent in the direction of the two—after all, Urahara was known to be very protective over his hat—but just like the shopkeeper, nobody said anything.

--

Grey-blue eyes scanned all who sat at the table before him, deciding the best way to approach the subject. He wanted Akina to work with the team of Karakura's "defenders". Bringing such a thing up alone would not be a problem; it was his reason for doing so that might cause a bit of trouble. Emotional trouble that is. He knew everyone's feelings on the subject. Despite how much time had passed since the initial incidents…despite how many years that had passed by without anything else happening, everyone's wounds were as fresh as they were all those years ago.

All eyes were on Urahara as he took a sip of his tea. When he set the empty cup down, he spoke in tone that had the whole room on edge. "I want add Akina to your ranks."

Things had been relatively dull in Karakura town as of late. There was still the occasional hollow sighting, but they were weaker and appeared far less frequently than usual. The fact that he was implying that they needed help was an unsettling thought. Urahara was a very wise man. When he said something was going to happen, you better grab your _zanpakutō_ and get ready for a fight because something that you possibly never even faced before was coming your way. The only question was…what?

"Why," Ichigo dared ask what everyone else was thinking.

Kisuke moved to answer but Akina spoke before he could even open his mouth. "Because of Aizen," came her straightforward answer. A sickening feel settled into every stomach in the room. "He hasn't made a move in years…what makes you think—"

Akina cut him off with a raised hand, "The only reason I haven't been around to help your '_little team'_," she did a sweeping motion with her hand, making it ever so obvious as to who she was talking about, "was because I was doing investigative work. I've only just recently finished. Have you noticed the hollows decrease in activity?" When no one said anything, she continued, "It's because he his gathering them all…and not just from your little town, but all over the place."

The petite red-head then leaned forward onto the table, a heavy sigh falling from her cherry painted lips. After tilting her borrowed hat up and out of her eyes, she picked up where she left off, "Ever arrive at a reported sighting only to have the damn hollow disappear before your eyes?" She paused, "No…well I have. In countless towns all over the place, hollows are appearing only to be snatched up and carted off to Hueco Mundo before anything can be done about it. Let's not think about all the souls that have yet to receive _konsō_ because of this, but instead, think of all of the hollows that are being recruited to join an unstoppable force of an army. Sure, they may be weak, but they have strength in numbers. Tell me," she paused again, "What's one shinigami against a hundred or so hollows?"

That sick feeling had nearly doubled in force. She was right and they knew it; though who would want to believe such a thing to be true. The brains of the group, a dark haired _Quincy_ cut in, his usually confident voice filled with uncharacteristic uncertainty, "If what you say is true Miss, then what difference will one additional person make?"

Akina fell back into a more comfortable position and chuckled to herself, "None."

The sickening feeling tripled.

"But," she supplied, her voice cutting through the thick cloud of dread like a hot knife through butter. They waited with bated breath; like whatever she was going to say next decided their fate. "You're not alone. It should go without saying that _Seireitei_ will come to the aid of the human world. But, they aren't your only ally." There was a rush of "who?" and "what are you talking about?" type questions thrown at the woman but she appeared as if their questioning didn't phase her.

"If you haven't noticed, _Seireitei _is strictly Japanese. Do not tell me Japan is the only nation on this entire planet of ours that has a _shinigami_ army of its own? They might go by different names, and their powers may be completely different than what you are used to; but _Seireitei _is NOT this dimension's only defense. It's a big world out there people…" With that, Akina had said her piece. She leaned back against the wall behind her and pulled the bucket hat back down over her eyes.

"Oh," she quickly added as she comfortably crossed her arms over her chest, "Don't even think about bombarding me with a bunch of questions again because I'm not going to answer."

Urahara simply shook his head at her display, a fond smile playing at his lips. "She knows how to make an impression doesn't she…"

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Sorry for a lack of lovin' between Renji and Akina. This chapter's sole purpose was made to reveal why Renji was so upset in the oneshot, and to introduce the group to Akina. In fact, it might be a while before you see any "lovin'" between the two. As to why...you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out. And guess what!? I'm not going to post it unless I get some reviews! Muhahaha

As always...I'll write you review.


	2. The TALK

OMG...it's been awhile...I wonder if I still have any readers left. _

To get rid of any confusion as far as the timeline goes...this story starts off before the first arrancar sighting. I just took a few liberties and stretch time out for a few years. ^^

**Disclaimer: This should go without saying, but I do not own bleach. I wish I did...until I do, I will settle for writing fanfiction.**

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_Urahara simply shook his head at her display, a fond smile playing at his lips. "She knows how to make an impression doesn't she…"_

"She certainly does," Renji muttered to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he could clearly make out said female smirking proudly. Something told him her smile had more to do with the impression she made the night before and not the one from today. Certainly a naughty little thing…regardless, he couldn't help but chuckle.

In response, the tattooed lieutenant received quite a few confused glances; wondering just what could have been so damn funny. The news passed down by Akina had been anything but humorous…and here he was—laughing.

A light pink dusted the redhead's cheeks after he realized his error, but he quickly recovered, cleared his throat, and shot the entire room a glare that clearly said, 'leave me the fuck alone.'

Renji had left the club with only God knows who. When they finally met up hours later, he had a dumb smile plastered on his face. With a face like that, Ichigo knew exactly what had happened and actually thought that Renji would be fine...or at least easier to deal with. Heck, according to Kisuke, he had even woken up with that same slap-happy smile. Yet here he was, irritable all over again. In spite of said fact, Ichigo did his best to ignore it. Heck, he already did his part…he took him out and tried to apologize but all to no avail. If Renji _really_ had a problem, he would come forth eventually. Or at least, he was hoping he would.

Until then, he had other pressing matters to deal with; more specifically, Aizen. "So now what do we do?" Ichigo bravely asked, being the first to say anything on the matter since Akina's initial silence.

"Well….what can we do?" Ishida interjected, "We have no more information to go on than we had years ago. We have no idea what we are up against."

The room, already overcome with a sense of dread, sank further. They knew what he said was true, but none dared say in fear that voicing such words would make what they were hoping was merely a sick joke all the more real. Sadly, it wasn't a joke, but indeed a very serious situation.

"There is one thing that we can be sure of though," Akina finally decided to rejoin the conversation, "And that is that Aizen hasn't been spending this entire time sitting on his ass. If he is anything like his file indicates, not only has he been rounding up hollow, but I am quite sure he has been training them as well."

Ichigo, other than Ishida, had obviously been the only brave soul in the room that dared speak, "You're point?"

For a minute, she had been shocked. Her brows flew up and her jaw went slack…did he really just ask that? When she recovered, she glared at the strawberry; her expression insinuating that she thought he was quite possibly, the biggest idiot on the planet.

The _quincy_ taking note of said expression, defended his—dare he say it—friend. "I believe he wants to know if there was a reason for you pointing out the obvious."

Akina chuckled in response, "A point? Of course there was a point…but I figured that it was obvious enough and didn't need to be said." After a lengthy pause, she added, "But apparently not."

The redhead would have loved to say more, though she had been cut off before she could even begin to dish out insults. "Training," Kisuke finally spoke up, "Her point was, you all need to train. It is true, we have little knowledge about the foe we will soon be facing; but if there is one thing we can be sure of, it is that they will be stronger than anything else we have previously come in contact with."

Several curious glances were sent his way. Akina was quite sure he had just reiterated what she had just said…and the rest, well they took it as a slap in the face.

"Just what have we been doing for the past couple of years!" Ichigo yelled, his current feeling of helplessness had obvious lead to annoyance at some point in time, and now he was damn near fuming.

"Strawberry," Akina yelled back, with equal ferocity, "Quit acting like a damn hot head!" When he glared in response but otherwise said nothing, she calmed down and took up where Kisuke left off. "We are well aware of what you have been up to over the past couple of years. Hunting the few hollows you could was one of them. Training however, never seemed to be a main priority." Ichigo initially moved to protest, but thought better of it and let her continue, "I am sure you all have stopped by on occasion…that however, is not enough. From now on—"

"You train daily," Urahara finished with a trademark smile and a snap of his fan.

Sometime later, after the serious discussion had been dropped in favor of more casual conversation, the group had begun to disperse. Pairs had formed, each engaging in their own conversations. Not long after, the overwhelming sense of dread had been lifted and replaced by the pleasant atmosphere brought on by camaraderie. Each and every person was aware of what was to come, but in the meantime, determined to not let it bother them; for if they lost hope now, what did that say about their future?

Not much later, people where saying their goodbyes and going off in their own prospective ways.

Renji had left her be the entire time. On several occasions the two had spoken of light subjects and even shared a few laughs. However, not once did he bring up anything about the night before. Heck, Akina had even thought she was going to get away scott free. The doorway to freedom was but a few steps away and not a sign of the sexy redhead that screwed her senseless. That is…until she slid the door shut behind her. Just as she was getting ready to wander off into town she was halted by the one person she was avoiding.

"And where do you think you are going?"

"Oh~… for a walk," she responded nonchalantly as she turned around to give him her full attention. She had intended to high-tail it before he could question her, but now that he was, she was going with it…like it didn't bother her in the slightest. If he had questions, she had answers…if he actually asked anything that is…

"Umm…did you need something?" She asked innocently; knowing full well where the conversion was heading.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know exactly what I want to talk about," he fired back, practically jabbing a finger in her chest with the harshness of his voice.

In response, she smiled coyly. Apparently, her feigned ignorance irritated him. And pissing people off…well, that just so happened to be one of her favorite pastimes. "Well then, walk with me and we can talk about whatever is bothering you."

Despite the fact that she was sure a blood vessel had just burst in his brain out of frustration, he still followed her. However, it wasn't until a few blocks later that he even tried to speak again, "Did you know it was me?" The question was vague…but all the same, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

It was a bit upsetting how serious he was being while approaching the situation. In fact, he seemed genuinely worried about their ordeal. As such, she dropped her nonchalant act and spoke truthfully, "At the time…no."

A light blush had dusted her cheeks as she spoke, and Renji was curious as to what could have caused it seeing as to how she didn't seem the type to get embarrassed. Nonetheless, he didn't stop to question her, he simply let her continue.

"To tell you the truth, I probably drank more than I should have that night. When I met you, you were just some random face in crowd…and at the time I could really care less about who you were." Nervously, she reached behind to scratch the back of her neck before continuing, "It wasn't until later that I had put two and two together and realized who you where." One sheepish laugh later, and she was fanatically making up excuses, "I mean, I never met your before… I had only scene your face once in a file…all I really knew was what I read and what Kisuke told me….How was I supposed to know!?" When she was finished, Akina had been practically pulling her own hair out. She couldn't believe she was getting so worked up over what she originally planned to ignore and simply hoped the problem resolved itself.

A few seconds later, she had returned to normal. She took a nice, steady breath, and her smile was back in place and Akina's world was once again at peace. Heck, she was so at ease, that his next question hadn't even fazed her.

"So what are we gonna do now?"

Her response was simple, albeit not exactly what he had wanted to hear, "Absolutely nothing." As such, when the look of complete and utter shock crossed his face, she explained, "To put it simply Renji, what we did was normal. We were just two adults…" She trailed off with a giggle. She couldn't help but feel as if she was trying to explain _"the birds and the bees"_ to a child; and Renji's look of sheer embarrassment certainly wasn't helping.

"Look," she started over, "what happened, happened. It doesn't change that fact that we will be working side by side. It doesn't change that we still have a maniac to stop…it doesn't change anything. So if you want to make your life easier, you'll forget about it." She meant what she said, but she couldn't help but add in a whisper, _"But I certainly won't."_

Renji had heard her mumble, but couldn't quite make it out. "What did you say?" After a bit of thought, he stopped her just as she was about to speak, "Never mind, something tells me I'm better off not knowing." When Akina flashed him a devilish smile afterward, he was glad he cut her off. Something told him that if he hadn't, a new conversation about something he wasn't entirely comfortable talking about would have ensued.

"Now," Akina started, effectively getting his attention, "I am on my way back home. You can either tag along," she grinned suggestively….maybe a little too suggestively for Renji's liking at the moment, "Or you can turn around and head back to Kisuke's…or wherever it is that you are staying. Either way…I'm gone."

And just like that, their conversation had ended, leaving him standing in place dumbfounded while she walked off. Even after having a couple of minutes to take everything in…he still hadn't moved. Renji was at a complete loss for words.

Two minutes later, he closed his mouth—at some point in time, despite not remembering when, he had went slack jawed—and walked back to Urahara Shoten. The strange thing about it all, was after being told to forget about all that had happened, he couldn't help but feel as if he should have followed her. Sure, he knew if he tagged along, his night would probably end the same as the last…him walking out a hell of a lot happier than he did going in, and Akina falling asleep with a pleasant ache downstairs. Either he wasn't going to get any sleep that night, or he would be forced to take a cold shower the following morning. Regardless, he knew he was going to regret not going home with her. Hell, the only real consolation that he had was knowing that she would be regretting it just as much as he did.

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For a while there...I thought I would never finish this chapter (that's probably why it is so short). For so odd reason, every time I wrote out the scene where Renji and Akina actually talk for the first time...they ended up talking about STDs. -shrugs- Dunno know why, it just kept happening no matter how many times I deleted it and started over. :/br /br /Oh well...it is finally done. You know the drill, review and I will post the next chapter. ^_^


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